Letters -- Published May 6, 2013

An April 23 Record Opinion page cartoon asked "Which (U.S. terrorist) killer deserves to have been read his Miranda rights?" then answered, "None of them."

An April 23 Record Opinion page cartoon asked "Which (U.S. terrorist) killer deserves to have been read his Miranda rights?" then answered, "None of them."

Most would agree that they don't "deserve" rights, but many argue that the Constitution "requires" it. If that is true, we need to carve out a clear exception for terrorists that happen to be American citizens. As President Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying, "The Constitution is not a suicide pact."

Terrorist acts are treason and should terminate a citizen's rights.

The Obama administration used a limited "public safety" rule to allow interrogation of the surviving Boston bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. With two bullet wounds in his neck, he still isn't "talking." But he has now been given Miranda rights anyway, after answering a few questions in writing.

So, you can have it both ways. We may never know if more bombings were planned, who provided weapons and bomb materials or the money for men with few resources.

One solution for citizen terrorists could be a quick judicial decision when sufficient evidence exists to invoke an indefinite delay of Miranda.

Tom WhittenTracy

They are stealing our buildings. We live in a city with so many problems ranging from past mismanagement, high crime rates, low business infrastructure growth and other issues. On top of this, our buildings are being and sold for scrap value in broad daylight.

I have observed people removing steel siding from buildings and hauling it away. I have phoned the Stockton police, who responded promptly and arrested the perpetrators. Eventually, though, the police could only take their names and roust them off the private property. Our local justice system is too overwhelmed for petty thieves.

These buildings are in blighted areas. With this illegal demolition, the blight becomes worse. These buildings were occupied by thriving businesses that didn't survive the recent economic storm. Many cities have vacant buildings but are their own citizens tearing them down and selling them for scrap?

I have had many experiences with Stockton police officers, and they have always done an excellent job with quick response times and conscientious professionalism. We need our City Council members and the mayor to work together to create a plan that increases police presence in our city. I have no problem supporting a sales tax increase if an agreeable plan can be implemented resulting in a greater police presence.

Affirmative action plans, community involvement and other plans of attack are important, but if we wait too long, the building we plan to meet in to discuss these options might be gone!

Tracy MillerStockton

I would like to point out an "inconvenient truth" that the Second Amendment was not put in the Constitution to protect your right to hunt, sport shoot or for personal protection. It was put there to protect the people from the tyranny of the government.

Our Founding Fathers were so concerned about this that they put it in the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Do you think knowing this that they would restrict the people's ability to resist the tyranny of the government?

The true genius of the Founders was their ability to distill down their thoughts so that there was no confusion to what they meant. That is why they used words like shall and shall not.